When I got sent a link the yesterday from my friend showing Wolf Blitzer getting annihilated on Celebrity Jeopardy last week by Andy Richter and Dana Delaney, I thought it was from a new episode of SNL. That is, until I actually watched it, and realized it was not SNL, but actual Celebrity Jeopardy, hosted not by Will Ferrell playing Alex Trebek, but Alex Trebek as Alex Trebek. Wolf Blitzer vs. Andy and the Desperate Housewife. Are you sure this isn't from SNL?
I would expect TV journalists to have a working library of topical knowledge in order to effectively report their stories, but Wolf Blitzer, really? You got to $-4,600 and they had to bail you out to get to the final round?! Man did I feel sorry for Wolf... wait, I don't feel sorry, it's just my caffeine hasn't kicked in!
Most people, even a non-religious person like myself, should be able to tell you that depending on the context, Jesus was born in either Nazareth or Bethlehem -- but most definitely not Jerusalem!! This particular answer of Wolf's was eyepopping to me not only because as a journalist with an MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins should be able to know his things, but because of his resume:
Blitzer began his career in journalism in the early 1970s in the Tel Aviv bureau of the Reuters news agency. In 1973 he caught the eye of Jerusalem Post editor Ari Rath, who hired Blitzer as a Washington correspondent for the English language Israeli newspaper. Blitzer would remain with the Post until 1990, covering both American politics and developments in the Middle East.[6]
Wolf Blitzer worked as a Middle East correspondent for 17 years in Israel, and didn't know that Jesus wasn't born in Jerusalem. This is the guy who's show, The Situation Room, replaced Crossfire after comedianJon Stewart evisceratedthem for having no journalistic merit. In essence, CNN replaced a show with partisan bickering devoid of value and put on a guy who's only tangible skill is reading a teleprompter while they stick the guy who seems to be in the know in the mailroom, while also adding alot of mesmerizing graphics and interactive pie charts.
Wolf, who are you, and why are you on my TV? CNN, why are we forced to pay for your contentless channel on our cable plans?
By the way, Andy Richter is my new hero. Perhaps a new rule should be introduced: that to be a newsman on TV, you also need to moonlight as a comedian, since comedy also requires you to have a working knowledge of current culture if you actually want to have a successful career. Apparently if you're a desperate housewife it can't hurt either!